Framingham native's 'One October' to be screened at Woods Hole Film Festival

Wednesday

Jul 26, 2017 at 11:39 AM

By R. Scott Reedy, Correspondent

Filmmaker Rachel Shuman grew up in Framingham but it is New York, another city she has called home, that is the setting of her documentary “One October,” which will be screened at the 26th Annual Woods Hole Film Festival on July 29.

The film was shot in October 2008 – a few weeks after that year’s stock market collapse and just weeks before Barack Obama was elected president – but those events are only some of the narrative elements in the thought-provoking and visually stunning film.

“I chose October 2008 not only because of the financial crisis and because it was the eve of a historic election, but also because it was a time of urban renewal in New York,” explained Shuman by telephone recently from her home in Beacon, N.Y.

“The theme of this film is change, so I decided it needed some distance from the major headlines of 2008. I also didn’t want the film to be just a news piece. Initially, I thought the film would be released in 2009. Ultimately, however, I gave myself a deadline to have it come out near the end of the Obama presidency.”

Shuman, who has a BFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, says the idea for “One October,” her second directorial effort, came from a documentary she saw while in graduate school.

“I was inspired by French filmmaker Chris Marker’s 1963 documentary 'Le Joli Mai,' in which he interviewed people on the streets of Paris, asking questions on everything from their personal lives to the social and political issues of the day. Marker and his cameraman, Pierre Lhomme, combined the elements in a way that beautifully captured the city. It was both a way to get to know everyday Parisians and a real love letter to Paris.”

While Marker conducted his own interviews, from off-camera, Shuman chose to engage the services of a tri-state radio personality.

“For my film, I wanted an on-screen narrator. A friend suggested I listen to Clay Pigeon, who hosts ‘The Dusty Show with Clay Pigeon’ on WFMU out of Jersey City, N.J. Clay roams the streets and talks to a wide range of people for his radio show, so he was a very good fit for this project,” says Shuman.

“He was a stranger to most of the people he interviewed. He wasn’t scripted, but I did request that he ask each person to share his or her feelings about New York. The city is the main character, not Clay. He is the interlocutor for the people of New York.”

As part of her research, the mother of two young sons turned to the city’s calendar for that particular October.

“In deciding where we would film, I looked at events – festivals, blessings of animals, the last day of Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah – and researched what people did on all those different days. We started at the Brooklyn Bridge, which was an audio nightmare, and moved up the entire island of Manhattan,” she says.

“I was also particularly interested in documenting the changes on the lower East Side, and on Wall Street after the bailout.”

To help do that, Shuman – whose parents now live in Plymouth and who has two aunts in Framingham as well as a cousin in Sudbury – chose another family member, and previous collaborator, husband David Sampliner, to be her cinematographer.

“We co-directed a film entitled ‘Art, Architecture, and Innovation: Celebrating the Guggenheim Museum,’ which aired on PBS, so I knew I wanted to work with David again. We’re real partners in the exchange of ideas. He got what I was going after right away. I love details and close-ups, and people’s gestures that demonstrate the significance in relationships.”

The significant personal and professional relationship between Shuman and Sampliner helped the pair endure an exhausting schedule.

“We ran around trying to shoot everything we possibly could. We were out from dawn to midnight every day but one that October,” says Shuman. “It was grueling, but roaming the streets together definitely made it easier.”

During that time, Shuman estimates they shot some 200 hours of footage, including 45 interviews. The final edited version of the film clocks in at just under one hour, with nine interviews.

“I make my living as an editor so I loved editing this film. When I would get stuck, I turned to consulting editors for their feedback. I also took my husband’s thoughts into consideration. And we had many test screenings, too. On a project like this, you definitely have an ongoing relationship with the material.”

The 26th Annual Woods Hole Film Festival – including film screenings, panel discussions, and other special events – will take place July 29 through Aug. 5. Shuman and Pigeon will attend the screening of “One October.”

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